Has Gaga Lost Her Mystery?

[Rolodex of Hate 1,761]

I've been thinking this for a while, and would be really interested to hear your thoughts. This is not a Gaga-bashing thread at all, but it would be interesting to see how we feel about this topic. I personally believe that Gaga has lost all of her mystery (whether that's a good or a bad thing), and I would like to explain why. 

Let's start with The Fame. Many of us remember the mystery around Lady Gaga when she first came out with The Fame. For a start, no one really knew what she actually sounded like, as songs like Poker Face were very electronic, demonstrating various different voices, including the famous low-pitched robotic voice. This led to several debates surrounding whether she could really sing or not, or if it was even her singing, because Paparazzi sounded so incredibly different to Poker Face, or Love Game. 

Then there were debates about her actual appearance - why did she look so different in the Just Dance music video to the Poker Face video? In her interviews she wore heavy makeup, sunglasses, wigs, headpieces, she often concealed her actual face, making it difficult to know who you were actually watching. Rather than her trademark being her physical appearance, her trademark became 'that weird woman who wears crazy outfits'. Everyone was talking about her - what would she wear today? What was her sexuality? Was she even talented?

The rumours came in thick and fast - people didn't know what she looked or sounded like, where she came from, what her actual name was, whether Lady Gaga was really her (or even one person), whether she was a serious musician, whether she was mentally stable, whether she was a good person... even what gender she was - thousands of tabloids wrote about how she was in fact a man, or a 'hermaphrodite' (now an outdated term). 

Gaga had fun with this rumour, and continued to confuse the public, by wearing dildos and making ambiguous remarks, which only confused matters further.

For me, the VMA Paparazzi performance was a real defining moment at that time, because it led to further confusion about her aesthetic - her music was electronic dance-pop, yet here she was drenched in blood, presenting as more of a punk-rocker, and far from the child-friendly pop star I thought she was. It made it clear that her goal was to shock, and confuse her audiences. I was hooked.

Then Bad Romance comes along, with weird claw choreography, crazy visuals (such as the massive eyes) and strange, commanding lyrics (rah-rah ah-ah-ah, roma, roma ma...). This was a clear change in sound from the bubblegum pop of The Fame, and a theme of monsters and death. 

The outfits got crazier, and the videos more iconic. 

She seemed to be in the media every day, with constant shocking moments, particularly the 2010 meat dress. Then Born This Way came out and she was at the top of her game. 

Again, she concealed herself with prosthetic horns, but people were starting to learn more about her, and what she stood for, particularly as the song itself was an anthem for the LGBT community. 

I would spend more time dissecting Gaga's career more, but this post is already long enough! I feel it was towards the end of the Born This Way era that we started to see glimpses of a 'normal' person, as opposed to the mysterious pop enigma we once knew. ARTPOP's aesthetic was very disjointed, it had various elaborate costume moments, as well as some images of a more natural Gaga (such as this pic, which kicked off the era).

Then came Cheek to Cheek, and it seemed that from here on, Gaga was reinventing herself as a more accessible, 'normal' pop star. 'Joanne' solidified this, as did 'Five Foot Two' and her acclaimed role in A Star Is Born. 

Now, with the Chromatica era, Gaga has returned to her dance roots, and while her aesthetic is more outlandish than during Joanne, there is no longer any shock value. While the 911 video is certainly a return to 'weird', artistic Gaga, the fact that she is now so much more relatable and 'normal' detracts from the shocking elements in it.

In summary, I therefore argue that Gaga has in fact lost her mystery, and is unlikely to ever regain it. I would love to hear whether you guys feel the same. Just to say again, I still worship Gaga, and I know that this constant need to shock was not healthy for her. I am also not criticising the change in aesthetic, as I doubt it would have been possible to maintain the Gaga persona forever. However, I just wonder if other people miss Gaga and her persona during this time. 

[Guest Adarsh]

Nobody can remain mysterious for a long time while also being commercial. She’s constantly in the public eye and after a while people don’t seem to bother. The good thing is that Gaga has always been a chameleon and you never know what she’s going to do next. That’s how she has remained relevant even after the thrill of the “Crazy Gaga” wore off.

[js4754394o9823 6,882]

.

 

[Guillaume Hamon 6,521]

Yes in the sense she exposed more of her and it's good she stopped the info retaining. An enigma can be fascinating but not after 12 years of intense exposure used to reveal very little.

Now she often was acting so all that we saw from her could be false and the actual truth still hiden...

[Mr Oak 7,691]

She, she won't be our enigma ooh ooh

[yes and 4,884]

36 minutes ago, Adarsh said:

Nobody can remain mysterious for a long time while also being commercial. She’s constantly in the public eye and after a while people don’t seem to bother. The good thing is that Gaga has always been a chameleon and you never know what she’s going to do next. That’s how she has remained relevant even after the thrill of the “Crazy Gaga” wore off.

We know... jazz 

[bionic 50,107]

Yes. But I’m not sure whether I’d rather have that or have her transition to becoming a “mysterious” figure like Beyoncé 

[Sorcerer92 837]

I think her mystery comes and goes. From late 2010-early 2013, and especially when she overtly adopted the Mother Monster persona during BTW, her mystery began to fade for me. I didn't see her as this mysterious being anymore but a genuine artist who cared about others. I feel over the years there have been times when the mystery returned, for example the initial roll out of ARTPOP gave me early LG vibes. But, since then she has pivoted toward being more open about her life. I agree, though, with another user's comments about social media. Hell, I'm old enough to remember when you still had to buy magazines or watch entertainment news programs to get the latest on them. 

 

 

[FATCAT 60,099]

Yes and no. 

Yes in the sense that she's famous. You can't be famous & also mysterious, there's always a give and take.

No in the sense that she's "known" and that she doesn't hold hidden talent. She re-invents herself every album, and that new "Gaga" will always be mysterious.

[Sneaky Oliver 22,221]

Well I think that was bound to happen naturally, I remember the times we barely knew her real name. She has become more and more open about her personal life which, I think, comes naturally when you already have a sense of intimacy. She felt intimate to her fans and to the media in general. Ofc there are still many things she chose not to share. It's silly to assume we know everything about her already.

Even though Chromatica is a conceptual record, we know exactly where the concepts and inspiration came from, which might damage the "mystery" of it because we already feel that intimacy like "oh she's referring to that!" unlike the previous records.

[Glamourpuss 29,062]

She wants to be an enigma and we want the mystique but we also don't want it at the same time. As mentioned above social media seems to have ruined it. She's trying to give us a bit of mystery but we just want a connection to her and to know what's going on in her life instead of being kept in the dark. I think we can't have it both ways though. 

[SoSourCandy 348]

can she pls release mv so we can stop these stupid topics for a while  

[OMonster 14,675]

3 minutes ago, SoSourCandy said:

can she pls release mv so we can stop these stupid topics for a while  

Stupid?

This is a really thoughtful thread and the user has presented their views in a really coherent and compelling way. 

It's far from stupid. I think this forum is missing more posts like these. 

Anyway, to answer the question: yes, Gaga has lost the initial mystery that surrounded her. 

But it was inevitable - and I am glad she realised that, as the 'Gaga' persona was certainly not sustainable... not in the age of social media, anyway. 

[Regina George 59,387]

9 minutes ago, SoSourCandy said:

can she pls release mv so we can stop these stupid topics for a while  

Ammm What's actually stupid about this topic? Let's not. People have every right to share whatever they have to and you have every right not to open these threads.

OT yes she lost that mystery factor she once had and by doing that she kinda became less interesting to mainstream audiences.. 

[holy scheisse 22,275]

Yes long, long ago lol 7 years ago basically